Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution: Returns for Season Two in April

by Trevor Kimball, March 9, 2011

The first season of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution wasn’t a big ratings success but ABC liked them well enough to order another round. Season one averaged a 1.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 5.11 million viewers. We’ll have to wait until April to see if season two performs better or worse.

Here’s the press release from ABC…

SEASON PREMIERE: EMMY AWARD-WINNING SERIES “JAMIE OLIVER’S FOOD REVOLUTION” RETURNS FOR A SECOND SEASON ON ABC, TUESDAY, APRIL 12, THIS TIME TAKING ON THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES

Jamie Oliver, impassioned British chef, TV personality and best-selling author, will bring his Revolution to the nation’s second largest city — Los Angeles, California — and take on his biggest challenge yet when “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” returns for a second season to ABC, TUESDAY, APRIL 12 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET). In this inspiring series from Fresh One and Ryan Seacrest Productions, Jamie attacks the problems of obesity, heart disease and diabetes in this country — where our children are the first generation not expected to live as long as their parents — and invites viewers to take a stand and change the way America feeds itself at home, in schools and on Main Street. The series’ first season was just named as a recipient of the forthcoming Television Academy Honors, exemplifying “television with a conscience.”

In the Season Two premiere, “Episode 201,” Jamie is raising the stakes for his Food Revolution by bringing it to one of America’s biggest cities, Los Angeles, but almost immediately has to rethink his approach when the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the nation’s second largest school district, slams the door in his face. Jamie’s first order of business — to win the support of the parents and teachers in hopes of appealing the LAUSD decision to lock him out of the school lunch program. He opens a kitchen in Westwood, where he hopes to provide educational tools to combat the obesity epidemic, and attends a school lunch convention, where he discovers a seminar advocating flavored milk in schools. Jamie stages a dramatic demonstration, but it falls short with the community, then attempts to create a healthy fast food menu in a local drive thru restaurant. Can the Revolution be saved?

About Jamie Oliver
In the past five years Jamie Oliver has been on a mission to get people healthier by cooking with fresh foods. His Feed Me Better campaign in the United Kingdom led the British government to add $1 billion into the school food budget and, more recently, his Food Revolution campaign in the United States collected more than 650,000 signatures and helped pass the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010.

“Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” is loosely based on Jamie’s U.K. series, “Jamie’s Ministry of Food” and “Jamie’s School Dinners,” which changed what British schoolchildren are fed in school. In America, Jamie’s turning his attention to helping people of all ages change their eating habits by learning to cook and choosing fresh food over processed in schools, homes, workplaces and even restaurants.

Jamie Oliver’s other U.S. television credits include “Oprah’s Big Give” for ABC and “Jamie at Home” and “Jamie’s Food Escapes” on the Cooking Channel. He is the author of ten popular cookbooks, including the New York Times bestseller, Jamie’s Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals, which Hyperion will release in paperback on April 5, 2011.

I think that what Jamie Oliver is doing is wonderful and I wish people would pay closer attention for the sake of their children. The only thing that I wish Jamie would add to his campaign is a way to teach lower income families how to budget for a healthy life style. Growing up poor I did not have fresh fruits and vegetables in my home, we simply could not afford them. I watched all the children in my neighborhood, myself included, snack on a 25 cent bag of chips and a 25 cent bottle of sugar water claiming to… Read more »